LeBron James is desperate to win his fifth NBA championship, but Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett believe he won’t accomplish that goal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Pierce and Garnett stated on their Ticket & the Truth podcast that James isn’t capable of winning another championship with the Lakers, despite having Luka Doncic as his teammate.
Paul Pierce: “I think this it.”
Kevin Garnett: “For the Lakers. Not for him, for the Lakers.”
Pierce: “I think this is it for him.”
Garnett: “Yeah, alright. Say he wants another ring?”
Pierce: “He might have to go to OKC or Denver or something.”
Garnett: “Man, he gonna play with [Nikola Jokic]?”
Pierce: “I mean, that’s the only way.”
Garnett: “But boy, stop. Bron in Denver? Stop.”
Pierce: “They gotta add some pieces to the Lakers… You got Luka, dawg. Luka is arguably the best player in the league.”
Garnett: “It ain’t enough.”
Pierce: “And that ain’t enough with Bron… That’s crazy.”
The Lakers are indeed not among the serious title contenders at the moment, even though they are the only team you could argue has two top-10 players. Why is that the case? Well, it doesn’t necessarily have to do with James, who previously led them to the title in 2020. He is still great, as is Doncic, but this roster has one glaring flaw.
The Lakers are just a bad defensive team. They don’t have enough elite athletes, and you certainly need those in the NBA today. Their best defender is probably Jarred Vanderbilt, who they cannot play for extended minutes in the postseason because he gives you next to nothing on offense.
Kevin Durant might disagree, but defense does win championships. You might be able to win even with an average defense, but winning with a bad one is next to impossible. The very best teams in the NBA will just pick you apart. That is likely to be the Lakers’ fate come the playoffs, if they don’t trade for some quality defenders before the deadline.
If the Lakers do put the right pieces around James and Doncic, though, they are more than capable of leading the team to glory. This might not be the greatest defensive duo we have ever seen, but they’re electrifying on offense.
James, who is currently out due to sciatica, averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game for the Lakers in 2024-25. The 40-year-old made the All-NBA Second Team and was a force on the court.
Doncic, meanwhile, has started this 2025-26 season with a bang. The 26-year-old had 43 points (17-27 FG), 12 rebounds, nine assists, two steals, and one block in the season opener against the Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers still ended up losing, though, as the Warriors racked up 119 points. Allowing that many certainly isn’t a recipe for success, and this will prove to be their downfall.
